UNESCO HIV and Health Education Clearinghouse

Situation Assessment of Adolescents for Life Skills and HIV Prevention in selected districts of Pakistan

2006. 81 p.

Organizations:

Pakistan. Ministry of Health

unicef

Description:

A dearth of information on situation of adolescents exists in Pakistan and there is little evidence on which to build policies and programmes. Recognizing the need for generating this type of information, National AIDS Control Program (NACP) and UNICEF sponsored the instant study with the following objectives: - to construct a profile of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19; - to evaluate their existing life skills; - to assess adolescents' knowledge and sources of information about personal health with specific detail of leisure time activities and media habits; - to evaluate adolescents' practices of health promoting behaviors and health seeking practices; - to understand prevalent risk behaviors and factors contributing towards them. The overall study design involved both quantitative and qualitative components keeping in view the need for representative results, without undermining more subtle and textured information that qualitative methods can provide. Domain of the study is life skills, which are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.